Chapter 19: Static Electricity Please remember to photocopy 4 pages onto one sheet by going A3A4 and using

back to back on the photocopier If an object has more electrons than protons it is negatively charged, if the object has more protons that electrons then it is positively charged)*. Opposite charges attract; similar charges repel each other. You can demonstrate this by hanging two oppositely charged rods as shown and note that they both move towards each other. he symbol for charge is !. he unit of charge is the "oulomb # symbol is ". The Gold Leaf Electroscope You must $now the structure of an %lectroscope and list some of its functions. If the &'% is uncharged, the leaves will fall together. If the leaves become charged # either positively or negatively # the leaves will stand apart (why)).

* + insulated joint, , + metal case Functions.. o detect charge /. o distinguish between positive and negative charge 0. o indicate appro1imate si2e of a charge 3. o test if an object is a conductor or an insulator 4ow would you use an electroscope to demonstrate each of these) Earthing If an object becomes charged (due to a build5up of electrons say), and the object is then 6earthed7 (connected to earth), the electrons will separate as much as possible, resulting in most of them 8uite literally 6going to earth7. he object then becomes neutral. Charging a conducting object by Induction o "harge an Insulated "onductor 9ositively

.. /. 0. 3. =.

,ring a negatively charge object near the conductor; the positive and negative charges become separated on it. :eeping the charged object in place, earth the conductor by touching it with your finger. ;ome of the negative charge on the metal flows through you to earth. <emove your finger, then and only then remove the rod. he conductor will now be positively charged.

You should now be able to draw the relevant diagrams to show how to charge an object negatively by induction.

Coulo b!s La"# Coulo b!s La" states that the force between two point charges is proportional to the product of the charges and inversely proportional to the s8uare of the distance between them. >athematically? (!. !/), *nd 9utting this together F' ? . @ d/ . 3 where the proportional constant is . 3

(epsilon) is $nown as Athe permittivityB of the medium; it represents the e1tent to which one charge will be affected d/ by another, e.g. glass has a different permittivity value than air. Cote that air (the permittivity of air) is ta$en to have the same value as D (the permittivity of a vacuum or free space). (D + E.F G .D5./ ? m5.)

Q.Q/

Electric Fields $n electric field is a region of space where electric forces can be felt. Electric field lines: he convention is that lines come out of positive charges and go into negative charges. Electric field strength (E) at a point is the force per unit charge at that point * ( his is possibly the most as$ed definition on the syllabus.)

he unit of %lectric ?ield ;trength is the Cewton per "oulomb (C" 5.). *lso note that because ? +

Q.Q/ 3 d/
.

%+

. Q 3 d /

To %e onstrate Electric Field &atterns#

.. 9lace two electrodes in a petri5dish. /. 9our some oil into the petri5dish and sprin$le on some semolina powder. 0. "onnect a high voltage source (about /,DDD Holts) to the metal electrodes. 3. <esult- he semolina lines up in the direction of the field, showing the electric field. NB: You will lose marks in an exam if you do not stress the high voltage.

%istribution of Charge on an Insulated Conductor# 1* $ll static charge resides on the outside of a conductor* %e .. /. 0. 3. =. J. onstration "harge the conductor (a metal can will do fine). Ising a proof plane, touch the inside of the can and bring it up to the &'%. Cotice that there is no deflection. ouch the proof plane off the outside of the can and bring it up to the &'%. Cotice that there is a deflection. "onclusion- charge resides on outside only

$pplication* Han de &raff &enerator is used to generate a large build5up of charge which resides on the outside surface of the dome. +* Static Charge on a conductor tends to accu ulate "here the conductor is most pointed#*

%e .. /. 0. 3.

onstration "harge a pear5shaped conductor . Ise a proof plane to bring charge from the curved end to the &'%, and note that there is a minimal deflection. Ise a proof plane to bring charge from the pointed end to the &'%, and note that the deflection is much greater. "onclusion- >ost of the charge is at the pointed end.

&oint %ischarge (also ,no"n as -The &oint Effect!) Ke have seen that on a pear5shaped conductor, most charge accumulates on the pointed end (or at least it shouldL). Cow let7s assume the object is charged negatively. If the build5up of charge at the pointed end is sufficiently large, it can attract nearby positive ions from the air and cause them to accelerate towards the pointed end. %n route, these ions are li$ely to crash off other molecules, causing them to become ionised (by $noc$ing electrons off the atoms). Ions with opposite charge to that on the point move towards this end and neutralise the charge on it. Ions with the same charge move away from this end creating an 6electric wind7. E.eryday Effects of Static Electricity .. Must on elevision ;creens /. ;tatic on "lothes $pplications of Electric fields .. 9recipitators (Ised to e1tract smo$e particles from the air. /. Nerography (9hotocopier machines) Industrial /a0ards .. %1plosion in flour5mills /. %1plosion when fuelling aircraft 0. Mamage to integrated circuits. 3. %lectric shoc$ You are also e1pected to $now a little about lightning and lightning conductors.*

Lea.ing Cert &hysics Syllabus Content C/$1GES .. %lectrification by contact %epth of Treat ent "harging by rubbing together dissimilar materials. ypes of charge- positive, negative. "onductors and insulators. Init of charge- coulomb. $cti.ities Memonstration of forces between charges. STS Momestic applicationsO dust on television screen O static on clothes. Industrial ha2ardsO in flour mills O fuelling aircraft. Memonstration using an insulated conductor and a nearby charged object. otal charge resides on outside of a metal object. "harges tend to accumulate at points. 9oint discharge. Han de &raaff generator can be used to demonstrate these phenomena. 'ightning. 'ightning conductors.

/. %lectrification by induction 0. Mistribution of charge on conductors

3. %lectroscope ;tructure. ELECT1IC FIEL% .. ?orce between "oulomb7s law charges Q.Q/ . ?+ 3 d/ # an e1ample of an inverse s8uare law. Forces bet"een collinear charges* /. %lectric fields Idea of lines of force. Hector nature of electric field to be stressed. %efinition of electric field strength*

Ises.

$ppropriate calculations* Memonstration of field patterns using oil and semolina or other method. $ppropriate calculations 2 collinear charges only* . 9recipitators. Nerography. 4a2ards- effect of electric fields on integrated circuits.

E3tra Credit #If an object has ore electrons than protons * * * Pust to complicate things, when scientists were first getting to grips with this stuff, they envisioned that there were two types of charge # positive and negative # and that they could both move. It was actually *merican scientist@politician ,enjamin ?ran$lin who proposed the positive and negative charges theory. Ke now $now of course that in actual fact it is only the negative charges (electrons) which can move along a material # the positive charges (protons) are stuc$ in the nuclei of the atoms and most definitely do not move. *s it so happens, all the phenomena we study in this chapter can be e1plained in terms of both types of charge moving, or just in terms of only electrons moving. ?or some reason I still can7t fathom, we e1plain static electricity phenomena in terms of both charges moving. *s an e1ercise for yourself you could try to e1plain each concept in terms of only electrons moving. <emember that if an object is neutral or uncharged, it does not mean that the object has no charge; merely that it has an e8ual amount of positive and negative charge, and they cancel each other out.

#Coulo b!s La" he direction of the force is an attractive force if they are opposite charges, and a repulsive force if they are similar charges. 69ermittivity7 is actually an unfortunate term # it should be called 6 unpermittivity or something more helpful, because the higher the value of , the less will be the force between the two charges. #$n Electric Field is a region is space where an electric charge at rest e1periences a force other than the force of gravity. Cot strictly true; a proton at rest could e1perience a 6strong7 nuclear force, but we will conveniently ignore that for now. $n Electric Field Line is a line drawn in an electric field showing the direction of the force on a positive charge if placed in the field. It7s easy to forget, but don7t leave out the part in italics A simpler way of saying this is to say that the lines come out of positive charges and go into negative charges. Cote that where the electric field is strong, the field lines are close together; where the field is wea$ the lines are far apart. # Electric Field Strength! Khy have a concept called 6%lectric ?ield ;trength7) ,ecause we may need to $now what effect a given charge would have on another charge, if that second charge was placed a certain distance from it. ,ut you can7t say that the first charge would produce a force of say .D Cewtons. Khy not) ,ecause the si2e of the force depends on the magnitude of the two charges. ;o to get around this we need a nominal second charge, and it ma$es sense to nominate this second charge to be unit charge, i.e. one "oulomb. his means that if we $now the effect the first charge will have on a charge of one "oulomb, we can get a feel for how strong it is. his is important when designing circuit boards for e1ample. ;o there. #To %e onstrate Electric Field &atterns I must admit I7m not too sure what7s going on here. I7m guessing that the oil is made up of polar molecules, which means that one side of the molecule is positive and the other side negative. he negative side then turns towards the positive electrode (metal plate), and will even try to move towards it if it can overcome the inertia of the fluid. he semolina is just there for the ride, but acts to illustrate the motion of the oil underneath. *lternatively it may be that the semolina moves and the oil remains still. Mon7t tell anyone, but after loo$ing at the youtube video, it actually seems to be a little of bothL #%istribution of Charge on an Insulated Conductor Pust so you $now in advance, I rarely get these demonstrations to wor$ properlyL Keather plays a part, but then a more e1perienced colleague mentioned to me casually one day- A Youll never move enough charge with one transfer you will have to repeat !" # $" times to get any deflection on the electroscope%& 'i$e I7m supposed to be clever enough to wor$ this out for myselfL #Static Charge on a conductor tends to accu ulate "here the conductor is most pointed*Ke are not given a full e1planation of why charge resides on the outside, or why charge accumulates at the pointy end; we are just told that this is the way charge arranges itself in order for each individual charge to be as far away as possible from all other charges. I thin$ a full e1planation would involve a whole lot of rather difficult maths (some of which was on the old syllabus, in use up to a few years ago) so I suppose we should consider ourselves luc$y that we don7t need to $now it. ;till, it would be nice if the te1t5boo$s were to at least ac$nowledge this. 4ere is how I usually e1plain it, but I rec$on it may be highly simplifiedhe two electrons that are circled (see diagram above) don7t feel the effect of each other because the body of the conductor gets in the way and shields them. his is why the charges congregate around the highly curved areas. he fact that charge resides on the outside of a conductor # be it solid or hollow # has very serious implications for the electronics industry.

?or instance %;, wor$ers dealing with high voltage lines wear a suit of conducting material, which means that they can7t get a shoc$. In fact the surface doesn7t even have to be solid; a wire mesh or a cage would also wor$. >ichael ?araday himself used to stand inside a cage which had a potential of a few thousand volts connected up to it, and he was 8uite safe. 4e used to do this in public lectures, and this arrangement is now referred to as a 6?araday "age7. *long with no charge residing inside a conductor, neither is there any %lectric ?ield. here is therefore no electrical interference to any electrical signal passing along a cable which is inside this wire mesh. his is the principle behind a 6co5a17 (co5a1ial) cable, used to cover the television line which comes into the bac$ of your H set. ;ee the 6'ineman7 video on youtube. *wesome. #Lightning and lightning conductors he temperature of the ionised gas in a lightning stri$e is typically 0D,DDD deg ", or five times hotter than the surface of the sun. he current is typically /=D,DDD*, but it only lasts for a few millionths of a second. hus the average bolt of lightning could only provide the daily energy demand for perhaps 0 I: homes. Korldwide though there are about 3 million flashes each day. It was the *merican scientist@politician ,enjamin ?ran$lin who first established that lightning seemed to obey the same laws as electricity which was so intriguing to the scientists at the time. 4e did this by attracting lighting from the s$y by flying a $ite during a thunderstorm. 4e was luc$y not to have $illed himself. 4e also realised the significance of pointed conductors, and as a result invented the lighting conductor. ,ecause of the animosity which e1isted between *merica and ,ritain at this time, the ,ritish :ing (:ing &eorge III) insisted that the lightning conductors at his palace should have round $nobs on top. he then president of the <oyal ;ociety resigned in protest at such idiocy. hese lightning conductors also attracted controversy when they were attached to the steeples of churches. >any people believed that (i) they actually attracted lightning, and (ii) that the conductors were attempting to obstruct the will of &od. ABen'amin (ranklins lightning conductor is a sacrilege that tries to avert the wrath of )od. *he destruction of +is,on ,y the earth-uake and tidal wave is )ods punishment of .an for the sacrilege B. ?rom a sermon by a ,oston >inister (.Q=0). Ions can also affect ho" "e feel* 9ositive ions tend to induce a feeling of lethargy and irritability in the 0D per cent of the population who find themselves susceptible, and may induce nausea and headaches. *ir laden with positive ions occur during a thunderstorm, and also in the vicinity of fire. Cegative ions, on the other hand, have 8uite the opposite effect and induce a sense of physical and mental well5being. here is normally a high concentration of negative ions near the seashore, and in the rarefied air at the summits of very high mountains. Cegative ions are also created in the domestic shower and this is said to be why a shower produces a feeling of freshness and invigoration superior to the traditional bath. a$en from an article by the late ,rendan >cKilliams in *he /rish *imes. %id you ,no"4 On a normal day, a cubic centimetre of air contains .,/DD positive ions and .,DDD negative ions. hese negative ions are generally o1ygen with an e1tra electron, and the positive ones are carbon dio1ide minus an electron. Mo you care)

E3a 5uestions (permittivity of free space + E.F G .D5./ ?m5.; charge on the electron + ..J G .D5.F ") .. R/DDE O'S &ive one effect of static electricity) /. R/DD3S Identify two ha2ards caused by static electricity. 0. R/DD0 O'S he build5up of electric charge can lead to e1plosions. &ive two e1amples where this could happen. 3. R/DD0 O'S 4ow can the build5up of electric charge on an object be reduced) =. R/D.D O'S 4ow would you detect the presence of an electric field) J. R/DDF O'S Came the instrument shown in the diagram. Q. R/DD= O'S he diagram shows a gold leaf electroscope. Came the parts labelled * and ,. E. R/DD= O'S (i) %1plain why the gold leaf on the electroscope diverges when a positively charged rod is brought close to the metal cap. (ii) he positively charged rod is held close to the electroscope and the metal cap is then earthed. %1plain why the gold leaf collapses. F. R/DDQ O'S (i) he diagram shows a positively charged gold leaf electroscope. Mescribe how an electroscope is given a positive charge. (ii) Khat is observed when the cap of an electroscope is earthed) (iii) Khy does this happen) (iv) 4ow is the cap of the electroscope earthed)

.D. R/DDES Mescribe how an electroscope can be charged by induction ... R/DD0 O'S Mescribe, with the aid of a labelled diagram, how you would charge a conductor by induction.
./. R/DD= O'S

&ive one use of an electroscope.

.0. R/D.D O'SR/DD0 O'S Khat is the unit of electric charge) .3. R/DD=SR/DD0SR/DDQ O'SR/D.D O'S ;tate "oulomb7s law of force between electric charges. .=. R/DDJSR/DD=S Khy is "oulomb7s law an e1ample of an inverse s8uare law) .J. R/DD=S &ive two differences between the gravitational force and the electrostatic force between two electrons.

.Q. R/D.DSR/DDFSR/DDQSR/DD=SR/DD0SR/DD/S Mefine electric field strength. .E. R/DDQSR/DD0SR/D.DS &ive the unit of electric field strength .F. R/DD0S he diagram shows a negative charge # Q at a point N. "opy the diagram and show on it the direction of the electric field strength at Y. /D. R/DDQSR/DD=SR/DD0S Mescribe an e1periment to show an electric field pattern. /.. R/DDES Khat is the force e1erted on an electron when it is in an electric field of strength = C " #.) //. R/D.DS (i) "opy the diagram into your answer5boo$ and show on it the direction of the electric field at point 9. (ii) "alculate the electric field strength at 9. /0. R/DD=S (i) "alculate the electric field strength at the point ,, which is .D mm from an electron. (ii) Khat is the direction of the electric field strength at ,) (iii) * charge of = T" is placed at ,. "alculate the electrostatic force e1erted on this charge. /3. R/DDQS (i) he dome of a Han de &raff generator is charged. he dome has a diameter of 0D cm and its charge is 3 ". * = T" point charge is placed Q cm from the surface of the dome. "alculate the electric field strength at a point Q cm from the dome. (ii) "alculate the electrostatic force e1erted on the = T" point charge. /=. R/DD=SR/DD/ O'S * pear5shaped conductor is placed on an insulated stand as shown. "opy the diagram and show how the charge is distributed over the conductor when it is positively charged. /J. R/DDQS *ll the charge resides on the surface of a Han de &raff generator7s dome. %1plain why. /Q. R/DDQS Mescribe an e1periment to demonstrate that total charge resides on the outside of a conductor. /E. R/DDQS&ive an application of the fact that all charge resides on the outside of a conductor. /F. R/D.DS Inder what circumstances will point discharge occur) 0D. R/D.D O'S (i) 4ow does the lightning conductor prevent damage to the building) 9rovides (safe) path for flow of current if struc$ @@ it earths the building @@allows easy path for discharge etc. (ii) ;uggest a suitable material for a lightning conductor. >etal e.g. copper.

0.. R/DD/S <ead the following passage and answer the accompanying 8uestions. ,enjamin ?ran$lin designed the lightning conductor. his is a thic$ copper strip running up the outside of a tall building. he upper end of the strip terminates in one or more sharp spi$es above the highest point of the building. he lower end is connected to a metal plate buried in moist earth. he lightning conductor protects a building from being damaged by lightning in a number of ways. Muring a thunderstorm, the value of the electric field strength in the air can be very high near a pointed lightning conductor. If the value is high enough, ions, which are drawn towards the conductor, will receive such large accelerations that, by collision with air molecules, they will produce vast additional numbers of ions. herefore the air is made much more conducting and this facilitates a flow of current between the air and the ground. hus, charged clouds become neutralised and lightning stri$es are prevented. *lternatively, in the event of the cloud suddenly discharging, the lightning stri$e will be conducted through the copper strip, thus protecting the building from possible catastrophic conse8uences. <aised umbrellas and golf clubs are not to be recommended during thunderstorms for obvious reasons. On high voltage electrical e8uipment, pointed or roughly5cut surfaces should be avoided. (*dapted from A9hysics # a teacher7s handboo$B, Mept. of %ducation and ;cience.) (a) Khy is a lightning conductor made of copper) (b) Khy do the ions near the lightning conductor accelerate) (c) 4ow does the presence of ions in the air cause the air to be more conducting) (d) 4ow do the charged clouds become neutralised) (e) Khat are the two ways in which a lightning conductor prevents a building from being damaged by lightning) (f) Khy are raised umbrellas and golf clubs not recommended during thunderstorms) (g) %1plain why pointed surfaces should be avoided when using high voltage electrical e8uipment.

E3a solutions .. 'ightning, static discharge, receive shoc$ after wal$ing across carpets, attracts objects, can damage electronics. /. %lectric shoc$ @ e1plosion in flour mills @e1plosion when fuelling aircraft@ damage to electronic devices @ electrical storm @ static cling, etc. 0. Must e.g. flour mill e1plosions, inflammable vapours e.g. fuelling aircraft, lightning 3. ,y earthing the object (i.e. using a conductor to connect the object to the earth which allows the charge to flow to earth). =. Ising an electroscope @@ electric field sensor @@ electric field meter J. * gold leaf electroscope Q. * + insulation, , + metal@glass@plastic case E. (i) ;ome of the electrons at the bottom of the electroscope are attracted to the top due to the positive charge on the rod and as a result there is an e1cess of positive charge on the bottom, including on the gold leaf. ,ecause similar charges repel the gold leaf moves away from the main section. (ii) ;ome of the positive charges are repelled by the rod and so flow to the ground. F. (i) ,ring a negatively charged rod close to the cap. %arth the electroscope by touching it with your finger while still holding the rod close by. <emove your finger, then remove the rod. (ii) he leaves drop. (iii) he positive charges move from the cap to the earth (or the negative charges move from the earth to the cap). (iv) ,y touching it with your finger. .D. ;ee previous 8uestion. ... *pparatus e.g. conductor (hanging from insulated thread or mounted on an insulating stand) and a charged rod. ,ring a charged rod close to the conductor. %arth the conductor by touching it with your finger while still holding the rod close by. <emove your finger, then remove the rod. ./. o detect charge

.0.
.3.

he coulomb
he force between two charges is proportional to the product of the charges and inversely proportional to the s8uare of the distance between them.

.=. ?orce is inversely proportional to distance s8uared. .J. &ravitational force is much smaller than the electrostatic force. &ravitational force is attractive, electrostatic force (between two electrons) is repulsive. .Q. %lectric field strength is defined as force per unit charge at that point. .E. he unit of electric field strength is the newton per coulomb (C " 5.).

.F. *rrow towards N

.D

/D. 4igh voltage and two metal plates @electrodes ;emolina and oil in container "onnect a (high) voltage to the plates in container ;emolina lines up in the field 21. ? + %8 ? + =(..J G .D#.F) ? + E.D G .D#.F C

//. ;ee diagram (i) (?or electric fields the convention is to assume the point to be a unit positive charge, so the point would be repelled from the positive and attracted towards the negative). (ii) he electric field strength at 9 is the sum of the electric fields acting on 9 from the other two charges. he electric field strength is towards the left in both cases (attracted to the negative charge and repelled from the positive charge). ,ecause they are both in the same direction the individual field strengths can simply be added together.

%total + 0.QQ G .DJ C "5. /0. (i) % + !@3UVd/ + (..J G .D5.F)@3U(E.F G .D5./)(D.D.)/ % + ..3 G .D5= C "5. (ii) owards the electron @ to the right. (iii) ( 0 1- or ( 0 (..3 G .D5=)(= G .D5J) + Q./ G .D5.. C owards the electron /3. (i)

*nswer- 1 + Q.0F 1 .D.. C "5. (ii) ? + % 8 ? + (Q.0F G .D..)(= G .D5J) or ? + 0.JF G .DJ C /=. ;ee diagram. "harges are more concentrated at the pointed end. /J. 'i$e charges repel and the charges are a ma1imum distance apart on the outside surface of dome. /Q. *pparatus- metal can, gold leaf electroscope, proof plane. 9rocedure- charge metal can and use proof plane to test inside and outside. Observation- leaves on g.l.e. deflect for outside sample only. "onclusion- charge resides on outside only . /E. %lectrostatic shielding @ co5a1ial cable @ H (signal) cable @ to protect persons or e8uipment, enclose them in hollow conductors @?araday cages (there is no electric field inside a closed conductor), etc. /F. It there is a very large electric field strength @ If the potential at the point is very high @ If there is a very high charge density at the point. 0D. (i) 9rovides (safe) path for flow of current if struc$ @@ it earths the building @@allows easy path for discharge etc. (ii) >etal e.g. copper.

..

0.. (a) It is a good conductor. (b) hey e1perience a large electrostatic force of either attraction or repulsion. (c) he ions act as charge carriers. (d) %lectrons flow to or from the ground through the air. (e) Ceutralises charged clouds It conducts charges to earth. (f) ,ecause they act as lightning conductors. (g) ;par$ing is more li$ely to occur from these points due to point discharge.

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